Retail trainer Academy ONE in apprenticeships link with Aldi

A LIVERPOOL training agency and supermarket group Aldi have joined forces to create apprenticeship opportunities for Merseyside school leavers.

Academy ONE, the retail training organisation created by shopping centre Liverpool One, Birkenhead training provider Scientiam, and the Skills Funding Agency, is working with Aldi to create a number of apprenticeships at its Merseyside and Halton stores.

Lorna Dainton, retail sector lead at Academy ONE, said the Aldi Apprentice Programme – which will create 200 apprenticeships nationwide – will be delivered across the Liverpool, Sefton, Runcorn and Halton regions.

She added: “This is the perfect time to launch the Aldi Apprentice Scheme, with the soaring cost of university fees and youth unemployment levels continuing to rise.

“We will be working with 13 Aldi stores in the Liverpool City Region and surrounding areas and have now launched the application process live via our website.”

The Aldi apprentices will be trained in all aspects of retail management over three years. The programme offers store assistant training in year one and fast-track store management training in years two and three, with a salary of £5 rising to £7.15 per hour and the potential of joining a store management team on completion.

Successful apprentices will then have the opportunity to progress to the position of assistant store manager with a starting salary of £25,000.